The legal camp of former Negros Oriental 1st District Representative Jacinto “Jing” Paras — a native of Guihulngan City — has come out swinging against a sworn statement now circulating online that purportedly links the ex-congressman to a plot designed to discredit Executive Secretary Ralph Recto. His lawyers called the document’s widespread distribution “a malicious attempt to malign and convict our client through public opinion rather than through the rule of law.”
Atty. Mark Kristopher Tolentino of MKT Law, speaking on behalf of the Paras camp, issued a formal press statement dismissing the affidavit as containing nothing beyond “untested allegations” from its affiants. Tolentino stressed that such a document “is merely a statement of allegations — it is not proof of its own truth,” and that the public should not treat unverified submissions as established fact.
Questionable Document Integrity Cited
A central argument raised by Tolentino in the MKT Law statement concerns the physical condition of the document itself. According to the press statement, the version circulating in public contains “visible handwritten alterations, insertions, and deletions” — irregularities that, the lawyer argued, seriously undermine the affidavit’s integrity and reliability.
Tolentino made clear that before any such document can be given evidentiary weight, it must first undergo formal authentication, survive due process scrutiny, and be backed by “competent, credible, and independent evidence.” Without those safeguards, he said, the affidavit amounts to nothing more than unproven claims dressed up as legal fact.
The MKT Law statement also took direct aim at the credibility of the individuals who signed the affidavit. Tolentino argued that persons allegedly involved in procuring women for prostitution — or who engaged in prostitution themselves — “cannot simply be accepted at face value.” Their accounts, he said, demand independent corroboration and “heightened judicial scrutiny” before they can be treated as credible testimony.
Libel and Cybercrime Warnings Issued
Tolentino went further, putting media outlets and online users on notice. Publishing or re-sharing the affidavit — which he described as unverified and containing defamatory imputations — is “libelous in character,” he warned. When distributed through digital platforms, such content may additionally expose those responsible to liability under the Cybercrime Prevention Act, subject to the determination of the courts.
“Freedom of expression is a constitutional right, but it is not a license to maliciously destroy another person’s reputation through trial by publicity,” the MKT Law statement read.
The firm added that it is actively evaluating “all available civil, criminal, and administrative remedies” against parties responsible for publishing and disseminating the materials in question.
Defense Cites Revised Penal Code Protections
Beyond the document’s authenticity issues, the Paras camp also turned to Philippine criminal law itself as a shield. The MKT Law statement noted that under the Revised Penal Code, mere preparation, proposal, or conspiracy is generally not punishable unless the law expressly provides otherwise. Criminal liability attaches to actual overt acts — not to “suspicions, speculation, preliminary discussions, or an alleged plan that was never implemented,” the statement said.
Tolentino asserted that, as of the statement’s release, no competent evidence had been presented to show that Paras executed or caused a false affidavit to be made, offered fabricated evidence before any prosecutor or court, induced any person to commit a crime, or obstructed justice in any form.
The camp also took particular exception to coverage aired on News5, which the statement said framed the affidavit as pointing toward a destabilization plot against the government. The Paras legal team called that characterization “an absurd allegation” and a vehicle for political persecution.
“Congressman Jing Paras remains presumed innocent under the Constitution,” the statement declared, adding that the ex-lawmaker “will not be tried through edited documents, selective disclosures, anonymous sources, social media, or political propaganda.”
NBI Moves Against Paras and Batangas Lawmaker
The strongly worded defense statement comes in direct response to actions taken by the National Bureau of Investigation. The NBI moved to formally summon Paras alongside Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste after receiving a sworn affidavit from an arrested talent manager, according to GMA News Online.
That talent manager was apprehended during an NBI-National Capital Region entrapment operation conducted at a five-star hotel in Malate, Manila, where five women were rescued in connection with an alleged human trafficking case, GMA News Online reported. In his affidavit, the talent manager claimed that Paras had instructed him to recruit four women who would execute false sworn statements portraying Recto as a client of women engaged in the scheme — all in exchange for a promised ₱5 million. He further alleged, as reported by both GMA News Online and The Filipino Times, that Leviste financed the entire operation. Both lawmakers have categorically denied these allegations.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag disclosed that investigators recovered and authenticated message exchanges traced to a phone number registered to the former lawmaker, though those messages were subsequently deleted, according to Politiko. The bureau has also signaled plans to subpoena lawyers who were allegedly present during meetings connected to the scheme, once those individuals are formally identified, Abante Tonite reported.
Paras and Leviste were expected to appear before the NBI on either Wednesday or Thursday, The Filipino Times reported, making their responses to the bureau’s summons a closely watched development in the unfolding case.
By the Numbers
- ₱5 million — the amount allegedly promised to the talent manager for recruiting women to file false affidavits against Executive Secretary Recto
- 4 — number of women the talent manager was allegedly directed to recruit for the scheme
- 5 — number of women rescued by the NBI during the entrapment operation at the Malate hotel
- 2 — sitting and former lawmakers (Paras and Leviste) formally summoned by the NBI in connection with the affidavit
Why This Matters
This case directly implicates a former Negros Oriental district representative, a sitting Batangas lawmaker, and the country’s Executive Secretary in overlapping allegations of human trafficking and evidence fabrication — making it one of the more politically charged NBI probes in recent memory. The Paras camp’s explicit warnings of libel and cybercrime litigation signal that the controversy is likely to expand well beyond the NBI inquiry and into the courts. The expected appearances of both Paras and Leviste before the NBI this week represent a critical juncture that could determine whether formal criminal charges are ultimately filed.
Source: GMA News Online, The Filipino Times, Politiko, Abante Tonite
